


What Was and Has Been

by TheRoyalMisfitMess



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: F/M, Pre-Episode: s04e47 Act Your Age
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27329605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRoyalMisfitMess/pseuds/TheRoyalMisfitMess
Summary: What Was and Has Been focuses on the unseen school year of the gang, told through three diffirent parts: fall, winter, and spring, before the summer of Act Your Age.
Relationships: Candace Flynn/Jeremy Johnson, Ginger Hirano/Baljeet Tjinder, Isabella Garcia-Shapiro/Original Male Character(s), Phineas Flynn & Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, Phineas Flynn/Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, Vanessa Doofenshmirtz & Ferb Fletcher
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. FALL - 1

A hundred and four days of summer vacation have passed, and it was finally fall. On a bright and early morning in Danville, a collateral of students were getting ready in their homes for the first day of school. The gang was no difference to that, of course. In a matter of hours, they were on their way to their senior year of high school, and what better way to kick it off than by getting ready together via video call.

Buford, Baljeet, Phineas, and Ferb, were on call with each other, talking, planning and catching up. “So, I guess you all are still on the soccer team together?” Baljeet asked.

“Oh definitely!” Phineas answered. “Ferb here is running to be soccer–“

Before Phineas could even finish his sentence, Ferb, who was not near the monitor, catches Phineas’ glance and raises an eyebrow at him in offense. “Sorry,” Phineas chuckled, “I meant _football_ … Ferb is running to be football captain this year, and we would never pass out to see that. Buford, on the other hand–”

“Hey!” Buford interrupted before Phineas could even finish his sentence. “I’m still thinking about it!”

“Thinking about what?” Baljeet, who was suddenly so curious and lost to what was happening, suddenly asked.

“He’s still thinking about whether or not he should stay in the _American_ football team.” Ferb answered.

Baljeet nodded his head, understanding where this was going. “Let me guess… He wants to prioritize film and drama?”

“Film and drama are the arts that feed the soul. And yes, while I do love football, it’s not my true calling. I just happen to love film more.” Buford said, suddenly now seen far away from the frame of the screen, arranging his bag.

“Your floppy hair and geek personality are a dead giveaway.” Baljeet bluntly, but endearingly put out. “Anyway, where’s Isabella? I haven’t talked to her in a while!”

Right on cue, Isabella enters the chatroom. “Hey guys! Watcha doin’?” she proclaimed her signature catchphrase with the biggest smile.

“Nothing much,” Phineas answers first. “Just catching up with Baljeet since it’s our first day of being high school seniors, and his first day as Professor Baljeet Tjinder at Boston College.”

“Oh yes!” Isabella clapped her hands in praise. “Congratulations on getting hired immediately after graduating from college.”

Everyone claps at their own place while Baljeet mock curtain call bows. “Thank you! Thank you very much! Although I must admit, Phineas and Ferb, if only your parents knew about you being child geniuses, you probably would have been college graduates by now.”

Phineas and Ferb chuckle. “Graduating early is not really our thing. You on the other hand… That’s a different story.”

“Say that all you want, you know it’s true!” Baljeet teased. “But I just wanna know, who is running to be valedictorian this year? Is it any of the Flynn-Fletchers?”

Phineas and Ferb glance at each other knowingly. “Funny you should say that,” Phineas told Baljeet, “Isabella is actually the student we’re all expecting to run for valedictorian this year.”

Isabella widens her eyes directly at Phineas. “Really now?” Baljeet peaks interest.

“That’s merely a possibility, Phineas!” Isabella corrected.

“Yeah, says the girl who gets Straight-As and is not short of extracurriculars.” Buford said.

“Yes! Thank you, Buford!” said Phineas who was grinning so proudly for one of his best and oldest friends.

Ferb, still as silent as ever, shows a thumbs up in support to Isabella possibly graduating as valedictorian of their class. Phineas takes notice of this and says, “Even Ferb thinks so too!”

“You guys!” Isabella said, flattered as ever.

“They have a point you know. And let me guess… Is Isabella running for student body president this year?” Baljeet begins playing along.

“Yes,” Phineas answered gladly. “Yes she is.”

He then takes a look at Isabella who was shaking her head, probably out of embarrassment from all the praise she was receiving. “Oh Phineas!” she exclaimed.

“Well, I am coming back for your graduation next year, so I better see Isabella graduate as valedictorian and the rest of you with honors...” Baljeet told them off.

Buford then spoke, “Even me?”

“Especially you!”

“Why?”

Baljeet jokingly groans in frustration, “Because I know you can do it.”

“Then you better come home for Thanksgiving break and Christmas break,” Buford bribed, "because I really miss you buddy.”

“I miss you too,” Baljeet said. “I miss all of you.”

“We miss you too man!” Phineas said.

“Aww we miss you too Baljeet!” Isabella added.

After a little bit of catching up, Isabella became the first one to ask to leave the call. “It’s been fun catching up with you guys, but I gotta eat and head off to school.”

“I guess you're carpooling with us then?” Phineas asked Isabella.

“Sorry, I can’t. I haven’t eaten my breakfast yet, and I gotta get to school early because I have to give new students a tour of the campus–” Isabella explained.

“Oh yeah I forgot about how you–“

“But I’ll see you guys later, okay? I really need to drop the call!” Isabella pleaded before Phineas could even finish his statement. “Baljeet, I miss you lots! Phineas, Ferb, Buford, I’ll see you later!”

Before anyone said goodbye, Isabella left the video call. The boys sat in a deafening silence for about thirty seconds before Ferb, of all people, broke it. “So I guess it’s time we drop the call and continue preparing for school?”

“I guess so!” Phineas agreed. “See later at school, Buford! And good luck on your first day, professor.”

Baljeet smiled. “You too guys. Your call really made my morning.”

And with that, each said their goodbyes and left the call one by one. Phineas and Ferb began to walk out of their room and on their way downstairs, to the kitchen. “Twas really nice to catch up with the gang, huh Ferb?” Phineas tells his Ferb, to which he replied with a happy nod. “Well, it’s time for breakfast! Also, where’s Perry?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so many questions left unanswered during Act Your Age: "What caused Phineas and Isabella to drift apart?", "How did Isabella ultimately give up on Phineas?", "Why aren't Phineas and Ferb college graduates like Baljeet?", "How did Buford go from bully to film geek?", "Why is Candace in law school?", "How the fuck did Ferb get together with Vanessa?". I just had some headcanons in my head, and I was like, "Why not turn it into a fanfic?!"


	2. FALL - 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isabella's POV

Isabella takes a deep breath upon dropping the call. It was her final year of high school, and she was determined to make it the best school year ever—not like the others weren’t, senior year just hits differently. There was nothing blocking her way, not even her feelings for her best friend, Phineas. For after a long time of trying to get his attention, Isabella finally decided to give up.

In all honesty, she didn’t want to—that is until they got to high school. Isabella could not take the obliviousness despite her obviousness anymore. Phineas was always more concentrated on his studies, and while Isabella was disappointed that he could not see her differently, she understood. She understood because although trying to get the attention of her next-door-neighbor, she too, valued her studies. After all, she wanted to get into Princeton, so she just ultimately gave up and moved on to better things.

After breakfast, Isabella drove off to school. She had to start the tour by seven-fifteen, so the moment she arrived at Danville High School, she proceeded to the admissions office. “Good morning Ms. Nettle,” she greeted the secretary of their admissions officer. “Are the new students taking the tour here?”

“Good morning Isabella,” Ms. Nettle says sweetly. “Yes they are! They’re a group of five waiting for you over there.”

Isabella takes a look at the small group—two boys and three girls who were engrossed on whatever was on their phones—and clasps her hands together. “Great! Thank you Ms. Nettle.”

“Anytime dear,” Ms. Nettle said.

As Isabella approached the group of five students, they quickly began taking their eyes off of their phones and hiding them in their pockets. “Hey guys,” Isabella started off, “I’m Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, and I’m here to give you a tour of our school, Danville High. Now before we get started, does anyone have any questions?”

A short girl with her hair tied up raised her hand. “What grade are you?” she asked.

“Grade 12,” Isabella answered confidently. “And yes, that makes me a senior. By the way, are any of you guys here seniors?”

No one raises their hand. “Okay, then… What about freshmen?”

Once again, no one raised their hands. “None… Okay, what about sophomores?”

The short girl who asked Isabella what grade she was and the two boys raised their hands. “Ah okay… So that makes you two,” she points at the two remaining girls, “juniors… Alright, good! No more questions?… Okay, since no one has any questions let’s start the–“

“Wait! Wait!” a tall and tan boy with gelled-up black hair ran up to them. “Is the tour over? Am I late?”

“Woah, woah! You’re okay.” Isabella assured the guy. “We’re just about to start, actually.”

“That’s great! I was worried about that,” without even letting Isabella speak, the boy began to ramble, “I’m actually new to Danville, my dad and I just moved here during the start of the summer after he and my mom split, and you know it’s just strange, what being a high school senior in a new environment and all! So anyway, yeah, I was really afraid–“

“Wait, you’re a senior?” Isabella stopped the boy from rambling. “So am I!”

“Really? What a relief! I finally know someone from the same grade. Dale Henderson, by the way,” he put his hand over his heart and lightly bowed his head.

Isabella did the same, “Isabella Garcia-Shapiro... Anyway, as I was saying a while ago, let’s start the tour!"


	3. FALL - 3

Phineas and Ferb got to school at seven-thirty; thirty minutes before the first bell was gonna ring, and when they entered the halls of Danville High, a sea of students greeted them as they passed the halls. It was no denial that the Flynn-Fletchers were some of the school’s most popular students. Because while they were both known for their intelligence, multi-talented personas, and wits, they were also popular in their own categories—Phineas specifically for being the charismatic class best friend and repetitively coming up with the best and biggest inventions, and Ferb specifically for being a heartthrob and one of the school’s star athletes.

Conveniently enough, Phineas and Ferb’s lockers were on the same column along the halls. Upon arrival to their locker area, Buford was found waiting and catching up with Irving. “Well, look who finally showed up!” he said as he leaned behind another student’s locker.

“Buford!” Phineas said as he gave Buford a bro hug, while Ferb gave Irving one. “And Irving, it’s good to see you man!” the brothers then swapped friends to bro hug.

“Word’s gotten around that you started interning for somewhere no one’s heard about,” Phineas brought up. "That true?"

Irving nods in delight. “Ahh yes! However, I am sworn to secrecy, so I can’t tell you where I'm interning at.”

“That’s what you kept telling us since you started there!” Buford said. Phineas, who was in the middle of arranging items in his locker, lightly chuckled upon hearing this. Irving was surely gonna made fun of by Buford.

And right on cue, Buford began interrogating. “Does this place even exist? Are you even interning for real? How do we actually know this isn’t all a lie?”

“I promise you guys!” Irving insisted. “It’s a hundred-percent legit.”

“Yet, we never heard of it…”

“I swear to God, it’s real!”

“If you say so man…” Phineas joined along, “If you say so…”

“Ugh! Whatever guys,” Irving groaned. “I am interning at a real place that, by the way, is nothing like any of you could ever work for. Believe me or not, it’s all true. Now, the first bell might ring soon so I’ll see you guys around.”

The remaining boys watch Irving move along, shaking their heads in unison, grinning. “Oh Irving!” they said altogether.

Before the first bell could even ring, Phineas, Ferb, and Buford proceeded to make their way to the school gym. Every year on the first day of school, a welcome back assembly before homeroom period would occur in the school gymnasium. This would include a welcome speech by the school principal, an introduction of teachers, and of course, a teaser on the student council elections—to which the gang was most excited for since Isabella intends to run for student body president.

While the trio walked pass the admissions office, Isabella sneaks up from behind. “Watcha doin’?” she said in surprised.

Phineas was the first to turn his head to his back, while the others followed. “Isabella!” he excitedly said while he gave her a big hug.

“You’re acting like we didn’t talk this morning!” Isabella tells Phineas off as he broke apart their hug, moving on to allow Isabella to hug Ferb and Buford.

“Oh let him be,” Ferb defended his brother. “You were gone the entire week before today, and you didn’t even drop by the house yesterday.”

Isabella laughs. “Okay Ferb, you do have a point there!” she said. “And speaking of being gone the entire week, I know you’re gonna ask how my visit to Mexico was, so I’m here to tell you that I had a great time and that you have souvenirs waiting for you at my house. Although, I sure gotta have to mail Baljeet’s to Boston, and shipping fees really suck...”

“Nah! Just wait till he comes back home for Thanksgiving,” Buford suggested.

“Now that,” Isabella points at Buford, “is a good idea.” she said sarcastically. “But enough with me… So, it’s our first day of senior year, huh?”

The four friends continued their walk to the gym. “You know it!” Phineas cried. “Ferb and I had an entire plan for the school year in mind. We can’t wait for football season!”

“Ahh same!” Isabella shook her head in acknowledgement. “Which reminds me… Buford, are you really gonna leave the _American_ Football team?”

With a dramatic waive of hands, Buford mumbled, “Duh! Duh! Duh!.. I’m still thinking about it.”

“Well, act fast.” Isabella began to advise in a whisper, “Because I heard that from Addison, who heard it from Ginger, who heard it from a member of the drama club that someone wants take your spot as linebacker if ever you left the team.”

“Really, who?” Phineas enters with curiosity.

Isabella leans in closer to the boys. “Jonah Beck!”

“I don’t feel a rage,” Buford tells his friends, “but I will consider it. Thank you very much for the information, Isabella.”

“Oh, you’re extremely welcome.”

***

The assembly was found to be unexciting and uneventful. Aside from the welcome back hype session and the teaser for the upcoming student council elections, everyone pretty much found themselves to be bored from what was happening. When it was finally time to move on to homeroom, an uproar of relief could be heard from a students.

“So, I take we all still have the same homeroom this year?” Isabella asked her friends.

“Yep!” Phineas affirmed. “Are any of the girls still with us too?”

Isabella nodded. “Gretchen, Ginger, and Addison… Katie, Holly, and Millie were assigned to Ms. Morrison’s homeroom class. No worries though, since all of us almost take the same AP classes.”

“And how many did you say you have again?” Buford asked.

“We don’t need to talk about that,” Isabella jested, grinning widely when they finally went through the doors of their homeroom classroom. “Besides, it’s not like Phineas and Ferb have the exact same amount of classes.”

“As a matter of fact, Ferb and I actually had to drop a few.” Phineas explained.

Isabella shakes her head. “You guys are gonna get into every college anyway!”

“That’s not a guarantee,” Phineas countered.

“It is if you’re born child geniuses who refused to show their parents because they wanted to experience a traditional academic life.” Isabella retaliated with a winning smile.

“Touché,” Ferb replied in behalf of Phineas.

“Isabella totally destroyed you two!” Buford delightedly cried out, high-fiving Isabella in the process.

“Okay, let’s just get seated.” Phineas suggested defeatedly, but with a smile.

“Yes,” Isabella stopped at third row, middle column seat in the classroom, beginning to get settled in. “Yes we will.”

Upon hearing the final morning bell before homeroom, the homeroom adviser, Dr. Doofenzmirtz, finally made entry into the classroom, making students rush to their seats. Phineas was now found seated at the second column near the door on the second to the last row, with Ferb seated behind him. Buford on the other hand, was now at the fourth row of the farthest column.

Wanting to make sure that her friends have settled in, Isabella looked around the classroom. Buford gave her a nod, Ferb gave a subtle thumbs up, and Phineas smiled. _“I’m pretty sure that everything’s going great so far,”_ she thought. _“What could possibly go wrong?”_


	4. FALL - 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phineas' POV

“No mom. Football tryouts are still on Friday.... No problem.... Okay mom, I have to head to AP Bio now, but I promise we’ll pick up the orders before we get home...” Phineas said, dropping the call his mom started the moment his previous class ended—he and Ferb had been asked by their mom if they can stop by at the bakery after school to take home a pastry order for bridge club, and since after-school activities won’t be starting till the end of the week, Phineas promised Linda that he and Ferb would fetch her order.

As Phineas entered AP Bio, he was greeted by his classmates. Taking a look at his class, it came to his realization that he knew no one. Okay, not really no one. He knew Cassidy Greene who was in the cheer team, Jonah Beck from the American football team, Jess Decker from past AP classes, and many others. Unfortunately though, Phineas was not particularly close with the people in his class and was pretty much alone. Disappointed with the lack of close friends, he decided to take the empty lab area near the window on the second row.

“Okay,” the teacher, Mr. Monroe, spoke as students settled in. “Good afternoon class, and welcome to twelfth-grade AP Biology. I am Mr. Paul Monroe and I will be your teacher for this school year. Before we start with our orientation, let us check attendance...”

While Mr. Monroe began checking attendance, Phineas took out his notebook and pen for orientation notes. Carefully flipping through the pages, he stumbled onto a draft for his and Ferb’s latest invention—a special note-taking device that uses a specific 3D technology to record audio, take videos without being noticed, and transcribe them perfectly into notes. Noticing some flaws on their newest invention, he moved onto the next page and aggressively began jotting down ideas for it.

“Flynn?” Mr. Monroe finally asked.

Phineas looked up from his notebook and raised his hand, “Present!” he said quite enthusiastically.

“Always good to see you in AP Bio,” Mr. Monroe said as he jots down on the paper attached to his clipboard.

“Same goes here sir. It’s always a pleasure to be in your class.” Phineas tells his teacher before coming back to jotting down notes on his journal.

“Henderson?” Mr. Monroe continued taking attendance. However, unlike previously, a student never responded with either a sleepy or enthusiastic ‘Present!’.

“Henderson?” he tried asking again. “Dale Henderson?”

As did everyone in the classroom, Phineas looked around. There were a lot of whispers between students, but because no one has claimed to be Dale Henderson, Phineas concluded that his classmate was probably absent, and so did Mr. Monroe. “Okay, moving on then!”

Before Mr. Monroe could even say the next name, an unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke, “Excuse me?”

Everyone turned to see a tall boy with jet black hair standing next to the door. Students suddenly started whispering. “Is this AP Biology with Mr. Monroe?” he asked.

“Yes.” Mr. Monroe answered politely. “And who may you be if I can ask?”

“Dale Henderson sir,” he answers as he walks to Mr. Monroe.

And with that, loud whispers propagated around the classroom. “Quiet class,” Mr. Monroe commanded. “Okay Mr. Henderson, it says here on my clipboard that you’re a new students so I’m not gonna get mad at you for being late today.”

“Don’t worry sir. I won’t be late next time,” Dale said. “I just had a minor problem with my class schedule.”

“Understandable,” Mr. Monroe scanned the classroom for vacant seats, “you may sit next to Mr. Flynn over there!” he said, making at Phineas’ head shoot up.

Dale settled in the vacant seat next to Phineas. “Hi! I’m Dale Henderson,” he showed his hand to shake, “I’m new here.”

Phineas shakes Dale’s hand, “Phineas Flynn. Welcome to Danville High!”

Mr. Monroe continued to take attendance. Phineas and Dale, on the other hand, talked to each other to make them sitting next to each other less awkward. “So, how do you find the school so far?" Phineas asked.

“Been great!” Dale said. “I was nervous at first, since I just moved into Danville, but everyone’s been really nice and warm so far.”

“Good to know,” Phineas said before taking glance at Mr. Monroe and then finally flipping the page of his notebook.

After a good two minutes, Mr. Monroe’s AP Bio orientation finally began. In an obvious manner, brought by years of repetition, house rules, the topics to be covered, and the privilege of AP Bio were mentioned. Phineas didn’t take down too much notes, but he always enjoyed Mr. Monroe’s talks because of his strong passion for Biology. It was just inspiring, and that is the very reason why he’s one of his favorite teachers.

  
“Is he always like this?” Dale whispered to Phineas while Mr. Monroe was in the middle of telling his famous, and utterly repetitive, story about how he chose to take Biology as a college course.

Phineas lightly chuckles, “Every year.” he admitted. “But he never gets tired about talking about Bio, and honestly, I look forward to him telling this story again. It’s just inspiring to be that passionate over your job.”

Dale takes another look at Mr. Monroe, and while he saw where Phineas was coming from, he thought Phineas was pretty whack. “You probably love Science a lot, don’t you?”

Phineas turns to Dale with a questioning look. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, for one thing… You’re in AP Bio–”

“You are too…”

Dale thinks to himself before responding. “Okay, that was a bad argument.” he said with a laugh.

Phineas laughs too. “It was, but I see where you’re coming from. If I were to be honest, I love engineering a lot and I wanna be that passionate about becoming an engineer.”

“Good for you,” Dale mutters as he continued to take down notes. “You know what you want, while here I am, not knowing what I want to do in life.”

“You’ll figure it out someday.” Phineas kindly tells Dale. “Not everyone’s life is planned out like a map. That’s crazy!”

Dale nodded in agreement with what Phineas had just said. “Thanks for that. I wonder if someone out there has their life planned out like a map?” he thought.

“Actually, I have a friend, a very close friend, whose life is like a perfect map!” Phineas remembered Isabella who was the epitome of a perfect person. “But then again she herself is this type-A who knows every little bit of secret in the universe because somehow things almost always work her way.”

“Your friend sounds scary!” Dale comments.

“She can be,” Phineas nods with a smile. “But she’s overall a very good person. You know? You should meet her and my other friends. Do you have people to hang out with in school now?”

“A few.” Dale told Phineas. “I’ve made some friends at homeroom a while ago who introduced me to their friends during recess.”

“Well, you still should meet the gang.” Phineas insisted. “We love meeting new people, and they’d be excited to meet someone new.”

Dale smiles at this thought. “Why not?” he said happily. “Let’s meet up sometime soon.”

The bell then rings to end the final class of the day. Students cheered as they packed up their bags and listened to Mr. Monroe’s final announcements, “Okay that’s it for today. See you all on our next meeting where I will be announcing who are lab partners for the year. Have a nice day!”

Students began to exit the classroom one-by-one eagerly. “See you around man,” Dale tells Phineas before leaving the classroom.

“You too!” Phineas put on his backpack and walks to the front door. “See you around, sir.”

“See you around Phineas!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! Sorry I haven't been updating. I've been super busy with school, but here's Fall: Chapter 4 for you guys :))


End file.
